These are good suggestions but this problem is different. It seems like the hiss is coming from the preamp because I don't hear it when the preamp is muted or off. But if I use a different amp, I don't hear hiss at all. I've swapped tubes. That's not the issue. It seems like something incompatible between the Lamm and the Ayon. I'm going to try another preamp next week.
Hissing at idle through one amp but not another
So I inherited a wonderful Ayon Crossfire from my uncle and it sounds awesome but I'm having a hissing that must be related to the amp/preamp match but I don't understand why.
With my Lamm preamp and the Ayon with the mute on, the speakers are silent, when I unmute I hear a hiss from the tweeters, just loud enough to hear at the listening position 10 feet away with no music playing and also during quiet passages on very quiet vinyl. It happens equally with any input selected on the Lamm. It's the same level of hiss no matter what the volume is set to. I've swapped the cable from preamp to amp. No change.
And then, when I swap out the Ayon for a vintage Fisher SA-100, there is no hiss anywhere at any time. Completely silent.
This is killing me. What the hell is going on!!!
Showing 2 responses by dhcod
Thank you @mlsstl! I just realized there is a gain switch on the back of the Ayon and a attenuator switch on the Lamm. By reducing the gain on the Ayon and going to -15 on the Lamm, the hiss is almost gone. I've learned over the years that with tubes you're never getting a completely silent idle. Just didn't want to hear it from 10 ft away! |